Seventh Annual Great Lakes Art and Photo Contest Now Accepting Submissions

Great Lakes Forever, Budweiser Sponsor Contest Celebrating Beauty of Region

CHICAGO – The seventh annual Great Lakes Forever Photography contest is expanding to include original artwork inspired by the Great Lakes. For the past six years, Great Lakes Forever and Budweiser have partnered to celebrate the Lakes by inviting photographers from across the Great Lakes to submit their best images demonstrating the majesty of the region.

This year marks the biggest change in the history of the contest. Artists of any two-dimensional media are now welcome to participate. Photographers and artists alike are invited to express their interpretation of the importance and beauty of the Lakes. Paintings, graphic illustrations, drawings and any type of two-dimensional art will help promote environmental awareness of these great national resources.

“Every time photographers and artists capture a sunrise on film or paint a summer storm, they are sharing the beauty of our region with others. That’s important because our Lakes need all the help they can get,” said Jennifer Browning, executive director of Biodiversity Project, the nonprofit organization that manages the contest. “By adding an art category to this year’s contest, we hope to inspire entirely new types of artists and welcome wider audiences to get involved and love our Lakes.”

Grand prize winners will be selected from both photography and art categories. The winning original artwork and photograph will be featured on the specially-designed beer coasters that will be distributed to bars and restaurants throughout the Great Lakes region, including eight states and two Canadian provinces. The coasters will also feature information on how to get involved in protecting the Great Lakes.

“The Great Lakes Forever Photography contest is a celebration of the natural beauty of this region,which we all have a responsibility to help protect,” said Chris Hanson, Budweiser program manager. “In addition to supporting the important work being done by the Biodiversity Project, we look forward to seeing the amazing images captured by the photographers and artists.”

To enter, participants 21 years of age and older may go to www.greatlakesforever.org and fill out a registration form. After completing the online form, entrants are encouraged to submit up to three original photos or digital versions of original art of the Great Lakes. The photos and art will undergo two rounds of judging, first by the Great Lakes Forever and Budweiser team, and second in an online public voting session.

“The Great Lakes are an incredible resource, not only economically, but also in terms of biodiversity, culture and personal identity,” said Browning. “We sometimes forget that despite their tremendous size, what we do in our daily lives can impact the future of the Great Lakes for generations to come.”

For more information about the 2010 Great Lakes Photo Contest, sponsored by Biodiversity Project and Budweiser, please visit www.greatlakesforever.org

In addition to the Great Lakes Forever Photography contest, Anheuser-Busch (maker of Budweiser) supports numerous community environmental causes, including the Biodiversity Project, and is committed to reducing its environmental effects in four main areas: water, energy, recycling and packaging. Accomplishments include Anheuser-Busch breweries reducing water use by 34 percent in the last three years, recycling 99 percent of their solid waste, brewing nearly one in six of its beers using renewable fuel (biogas, landfill gas and solar) and reducing the material in fiber, aluminum and glass packaging.

Great Lakes Forever is a program of Biodiversity Project, based in Chicago, Ill. Since its creation in 2004, Great Lakes Forever has become a source for public education and activism programs that help strengthen the movement to protect the Great Lakes. Budweiser has joined with Biodiversity Project to help sponsor Great Lakes Forever initiatives and projects since 2005. In addition to supporting the coaster photo and art contest, Budweiser donated over $40,000 to Great Lakes Forever for education and awareness programs that focus on protecting water quality.

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch is the leading American brewer, holding a 48.3 percent share of U.S. beer sales to retailers. The company brews the world’s largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch also owns a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico’s leading brewer. Anheuser-Busch is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and has been a leading aluminum recycler for more than 30 years. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the leading global brewer, and continues to operate under the Anheuser-Busch name and logo. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.